Oh my nom nom nom!
St Jude's Cellars
So today we decided to celebrate (why? Well, why NOT?), and go somewhere nice for dinner. Somewhere nice, not in the city, and where we've not yet been before. After learning that Hellenic Republic was fully booked, I caved and suggested we walk up Brunswick St. And so we did.
And I'm very glad we did.
The place has that reconverted-warehouse, whitewashed brick, clean wood, massive kitchen/bar kinda feel to it. The food, although pricey, is fantastic. The beetroot and taleggio arancini balls were tiny, and served with a dab of baba ganoush. Great for an appetiser, though probably not as an entrée. The pork belly (not for me, obviously), was a little sweet with the nectarine and burnt honey, but the crackling was almost like toffee - a real treat for the carnivores. The mains were 5 kinds of awesome; although I am somewhat wary of tofu in general, these guys nailed it in their spicy tofu/beanshoot/root vegetables/quinoa salad. I almost licked the plate for the dressing. The scotch fillet on ox tails with onion tart was apparently super-yum too. We were only shown the sit-down restaurant menu, but I'm looking forward to trying out the bar snack menu. Speaking of the bar, and drinks in general, the wine list is extensive enough to satisfy all but the amateur sommeliers I know, and their dessert menu contains espresso martinis. Enough said.
The only things that let the place down were the toilets, which after the décor of the rest of the place looked decidedly mediocre, and the staff, although knowledgeable and professional, were somewhat slow in getting food to/from our table, and the drinks took forever to arrive. For this quality food, however, I can live with that.
For all you dear readers who live in Melbourne, or plan to visit in the near future, keep this one in your plans; it's a possible Cookie-beater.
PS. Gelato at Trampoline on a 28-degree night? Don't mind if I do!
So today we decided to celebrate (why? Well, why NOT?), and go somewhere nice for dinner. Somewhere nice, not in the city, and where we've not yet been before. After learning that Hellenic Republic was fully booked, I caved and suggested we walk up Brunswick St. And so we did.
And I'm very glad we did.
The place has that reconverted-warehouse, whitewashed brick, clean wood, massive kitchen/bar kinda feel to it. The food, although pricey, is fantastic. The beetroot and taleggio arancini balls were tiny, and served with a dab of baba ganoush. Great for an appetiser, though probably not as an entrée. The pork belly (not for me, obviously), was a little sweet with the nectarine and burnt honey, but the crackling was almost like toffee - a real treat for the carnivores. The mains were 5 kinds of awesome; although I am somewhat wary of tofu in general, these guys nailed it in their spicy tofu/beanshoot/root vegetables/quinoa salad. I almost licked the plate for the dressing. The scotch fillet on ox tails with onion tart was apparently super-yum too. We were only shown the sit-down restaurant menu, but I'm looking forward to trying out the bar snack menu. Speaking of the bar, and drinks in general, the wine list is extensive enough to satisfy all but the amateur sommeliers I know, and their dessert menu contains espresso martinis. Enough said.
The only things that let the place down were the toilets, which after the décor of the rest of the place looked decidedly mediocre, and the staff, although knowledgeable and professional, were somewhat slow in getting food to/from our table, and the drinks took forever to arrive. For this quality food, however, I can live with that.
For all you dear readers who live in Melbourne, or plan to visit in the near future, keep this one in your plans; it's a possible Cookie-beater.
PS. Gelato at Trampoline on a 28-degree night? Don't mind if I do!